NF Campground Review – Bakers Hole, West Yellowstone, MT/WY
Link to campground here: Bakers Hole, West Yellowstone, MT
Link to map location here: Bakers Hole, West Yellowstone, MT
- Site Quality = 4.5/5
Really very nice sites here especially for a national forest. There are a mix of gravel back-in and pull-through sites of which around half are primitive (no hookups), and the other half offer electric (50 amp). Sites are well spaced and private with nice “sitting areas” containing picnic table and fire-pit. The majority of sites are large and flat with with a selection of larger “double” sites that could easily fit bigger rigs than us (some of the pull-throughs are Ginormous!). Sites 24-72 are officially labelled as “large RV” sites, but I would say around 85% of the sites in the campground could fit us. Road-facing sites are heavily wooded, but some of the river-facing sites are more open (excellent solar) and a few even have actual river views (esp. sites 62-64). All sites are first-come-first-serve.
NOTE/ The entrance to the campground doesn’t have a lot of space to unhook and scout (you’ll block the entrance if you do), so for big rigs I recommend stopping at the large day-use area ~2 mile south of the campground and unhooking here. - Facilities = 2/5
Really basic facilities here. There are several pit toilets around camp, all kept spotlessly clean (which was lovely to see). One threaded water spigot at beginning of the campground (near site #24) with many more non-threaded spigots in each loop. Garbage and recycling on-site. NO dump station however. - Location = 5/5
This is a great location to explore West Yellowstone. You are only ~3 miles north of West Yellowstone town and the west entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The town of West Yellowstone has everything you could want for shopping, eating, laundry etc. and there is days worth of sightseeing (geysers, hot pools, trails, wildlife) in the western section of Yellowstone National Park. - Pet Friendliness = 5/5
Excellent place for doggie. Lots of space to hang out in camp, plus there are short trails along the riverfront and a longer trail (goes all the way into town, if you wish) behind campsite #13.
Overall Rating = 4.1
BONUS ALERT = Walk along the Madison river with doggie!
Summary: We chose this as our base to explore the western section of Yellowstone and it was all-around an excellent choice. It’s a medium-sized forest service campground only ~3 miles north of the West Yellowstone and offers lovely, large, flat gravel sites as well as a selection of 50 amp hookups. The sites are nicely spaced, private and have spacious “sitting areas”. A lovely river flows nearby (with short trails along the riverfront) and there is a longer hike/bike trail that goes all the way into town behind site 13. The campground does seem to be popular and sites are first-come-first-serve so it pays to get here early to get your site (by around 13:00 each day, the campground was full). Also the entrance to the campground doesn’t have a lot of extra space so for big rigs I recommend stopping and unhooking in the day-use area ~2 miles south to scout out the sites. The only real ding? Road noise! You are right next to Hwy 191 so you WILL hear road-noise from your site. The sites closest to the road have the most noise, with those closer to the river a little less. It wasn’t unbearable though, and we found the campground did quiet down nicely at night. All-round it’s a great choice to explore the area, with lots of green and dog-friendly hiking. We definitely enjoyed our stay and would certainly come back if we visited the area again.
Extra Info: This place has iffy cellphone and really requires a booster for stable signal. We had 1-2 bars of slow ATT 4G which raised to stable, usable 3 bars with booster. On Verizon we had 2 bars of 3G (horrible, utterly unusable), but we were able to raise it to usable 1-2 bars of LTE with booster. Out of the two, our ATT signal was the fastest & most consistent. 73 sites in this campground of which 33 have electrical (50 Amp). Electric sites $22/night ($14/night with senior pass). Dry-camping $16/night (8/night with senior pass). Double-size sites $32/night. 16-day stay limit. Potable water on-site, but NO dump station.
Extra, Extra Info: Other Camping? For those looking for full hookups, Yellowstone Grizzy RV Park is right downtown (walking distance everywhere) and is very highly-rated. For those wanting to be further inside Yellowstone National Park, Madison campground is in a great location and also well-rated, but it is often full (reservations are a MUST), has no hookups, only a limited number of sites for bigger rigs and has no (zero) internet signal.
Great review and always nice to know there is no place to unhook at entrance. Thanks for the heads up on where to unhook to do some scouting:)
I have to give credit to Laurie and Odel (from WeCallItHome) for that tip. I still use their reviews when we travel, even though they’ve been off the road for a while. She had that handy dandy unhooking tip in her review of this place.
Nina
Very thorough and in depth review…photos were very beneficial, as was site description and info about unhooking area. Really appreciate this information
Great review and if we ever go back to Yellowstone we will keep this handy.
At first I thought this was a on one of the RV campground review sites- love it!! I’ve always wanted to go and this is so very helpful!!
Thanks for another amazingly detailed campground review. When we’re going to a new place, your site is always the first one I check for campground reviews/activities. Staying at James M Robb SP right now because of your high praise and we certainly agree! So helpful to read a review by a like-minded person who also has a beast of a rig!
Oh so glad you’re enjoying it! That is a beautiful park!
Nina
We were in site #31 at the same time you were there (the least favorite of the sites we stayed in). Wish I had known at the time. We actually were at Bakers Hole three different times in the past month since my husband wanted to fish the Madison river.
Wow!! So sorry we didn’t meet! We actually ended up seeing two groups of friends at that campground. It’s a popular place! I typically update where we are in the “where are we now” sidebar, although I’m sometimes a day or two behind. So, if you get a chance to check it, that’ll usually give you an idea if we’re nearby. Hope it warmed up for you. Those last few nights were chilly!!
Nina
What a great review. You covered everything including photos! We have a 37 foot “beast” so we are always concerned about being able to find a site that is long and level enough for us. The info on unhooking in the day use area is a good tip. Do you know where the closest dump station is to this campground?
I think you can dump in town at the private park, but I didn’t call to check. Most private parks allow you to do it for a fee. Here’s the list from Sanidumps:
http://www.sanidumps.com/rvdumpscity.php?citynum=3071&city=WestYellowstone&cityradius=1
Nina
I am planning my first year of retirement around some of your travels, so thank you for the wonderfully detailed info. My wife and I both love the out of the way locations that you have found along the road.
Are you going to continue east?
Just a little further east, so we can renew our licenses in SD. Then we head south to the Balloon Festival in ABQ, NM in early Oct.
Nina
Wondering where to take a shower near the campground?
They have multiple shower areas in town (local laundromat comes to mind).
Nina
We decided to stop at Yellowstone (last minute idea) on our way to Nebraska and couldn’t find any vacancies so I was glad to see a first come first serve site thanks to your review. We spent 3 nights at Baker’s Hole. We got there at 10:30 and there were lots of spaces available. We decided to try out our new solar system so we dry camped. It worked perfectly we found a site with few trees blocking the panels. It’s still $16 a night and yes the wifi is terrible but we enjoyed the site. Loved all of the dog friendly walks at the site. One of the best investments was to buy a doggy Backpack so our Frenchton could go on the trails with us in Yellowstone.
33 Allegro Red pulling a toad.
So glad you were able to get a spot here, and cheers much for reporting back on your experience. The doggy backpack is sn excellent idea too.
Nina